Chapter 29 - "Strangled Hearts"
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In a dark, very dark alley, a man is being chased by a woman. She is a tall, platinum blonde, young woman. She wears a white one-piece dress that comes to mid-thigh with shorts underneath, an over-the shoulder cape, high boots and a golden tiara with spikes radiating from it.
The man… is unique.
He has graying black, spiky hair, red eyes, and slight stubble along his jawline. With a red, tattered cloak, he wears a gray dress shirt with a long tail, black dress pants, and black dress shoes.
Man : "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! What did I do wrong this time?
He dashes to the left, entering another valley.
Man : "Eastern Priestellian Wing Thirty-Five?"
He reads a sign, a sign which has the name of the valley he just entered carved in it. He doesn't look back. He has a slight idea who might be after him, and that idea worries him.
That thing… is dangerous.
That's all that goes through his head. He has to escape. He isn't in the right shape to fight her.
He grabs his weapon. It is a large-bladed weapon that can take on multiple forms. The first form shown is a single-edged great sword with a clockwork mechanism of indeterminate nature built into the space above the hilt, and a pair of parallel hand guards is set beneath.
A pair of shotgun barrels are also situated on either side of the main blade, although it is unknown whether they are functional in this state. When swung, the sword appears to make a number of clicking and ratcheting sounds, but it is unclear whether this is significant or simply a sound effect.
Immediately, out of the sword, he released a power gun shot and launched himself on the roof of a building in front of him.
He lands perfectly on his feet and dashes away.
Looking back, he sees nobody and grabs a flask with alcohol, just when he was about to take a sip, he heard the woman appear behind him.
He turns around.
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Woman : "Do not move, villain. Make an unexpected move, and I'll crush your skull, understand?"
Her rough, yet direct comment made him stop walking.
Man : "Glory Girl? Why the hell are You after me? I have not committed a crime."
Glory Girl : "Calling me by my Wardens name, how ruthless of you, Qrow Branwen."
Qrow : "Ah? You know me?"
Glory Girl : "The famous brother of the highest ranked bandit, Raven Branwen, how couldn't I know someone like you?"
It seemed that the man, Qrow Branwen, is quite known around here, for some reason.
Qrow : "What the hell are you doing in Lugnica? The Wardens were sealed away years ago."
Glory Girl : "I could ask you the same thing. Why aren't you with your sister, at the Branwen Tribe?"
Qrow : "They're thieves and bandits."
Glory Girl : "They're your family, Qrow Branwen."
The man sighed.
Qrow : "How about you start. What's going on? Why were you searching for me?"
Glory Girl : "First of all, before we start, I want you to take this. This is my Wardens Card, so I can warn you how powerful I am, and how I easy I can destroy you. Here."
The girl gave him her identity card with various information.
Rekingdom Victoria
Name : Glory Girl
Civilian Name : victoria glory
Family : Glory family
Affiliation : the wardens
Occupation : head warden
Power Rank : SSS+
Mana Rank : SSS+
Semblance : Force manipulation
Magic : Yang, fire, water magic
divine protection : light absorption
Status : Alive
Kill Count : 952 villains
Qrow : "You sure are proud of yourself, aren't cha? Is that how Carol taught you to live?"
Victoria : "Oh shut the fuck up, would you?"
Qrow : "Alright, alright, enough kidding around, what's up Vic?"
Victoria : "It appears that the Sanctuary Barrier is collapsing."
Qrow : "What?"
Confused, however, he already expected this to happen, and kept staring at her.
Victoria : "It also seems that Jens, is still alive. Your sister had quite an impact on him, didn't she?"
Qrow : "Forget about Raven, and move on. Is Jens still safe?"
Victoria : "It appears he is. However, The Washuu King is already within their Territory. Regulus Corneas is resting, there is no further information about the Witch of Vainglory or anyone else."
Qrow : "So why are you after me?"
He asked, rude.
Victoria looked at him.
Victoria : "The Wardens are expecting worse things to happen in the near future, according to our boss. There is a very high possibility that Endbringers will make a move soon. I was ordered to search for Team RWBY, Team STRQ and the Team that betrayed us."
Qrow : "Listen Gloryhole, I don't have time for your cute games. I'm a former Warrior, I'm not joining Vincent anymore."
Hearing this, Victoria enraged.
Victoria : "Is that your final decision, dickhead?"
Qrow shrugged.
Qrow : "I'm sorry, but I've things more important than your cute cooperation. I'm searching for my niece."
Victoria : "What if I told you that the Wardens know where Ruby Rose is? Would that change your decision?"
He gulped. He felt sweat falling from his forhead and looked at Victoria in fear. His niece, Ruby Rose, was gone for more than hundreds of years. What are the chances that this girl would know the location of the coffin she is in?
Qrow : "You're lying. My niece was sealed in–"
Victoria : "A coffin, by Jens. I know. He's the only one that is able to open that seal. But because of the Washuu King, due to his memory loss, he never opened the seal. Right? He saved her from dying, but now she's just stuck in a coffin. How tragic, such a nice family, ain't it?"
Qrow : "Fuck you, Glory Hole. Atleast my family ain't some rich brads who're only loyal to Vincent. That mother fucker will pay for what he did."
Victoria : "Would you please, not call me that? Now–"
She sighed.
Victoria : "Are you ready to die? If you don't listen and obey, you'll die."
Qrow : "Let's see who dies first, Glory Hole."
Qrow dashed, changing his weapon into a scythe, and clashed with Victoria Glory.
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Nathan : "So… What is the meaning of what we're doing?"
While heading towards the Sanctuary, Nathan asked something, particularly odd. The responses were not positive, nor negative. It was a rather neutral question, but no one was sure what to answer.
Jens : "What do you mean?"
He was the first one to answer Nathan's question.
Nathan : "Everyone here… We're all here for a reason, am I right? Weiss, Yang, you are here because of Jens. Am I right?"
While walking, Yang and Weiss nodded. They looked at each other for a small second and looked back. Their relationship was somewhat restored to the original state, but it still felt weird.
Nathan : "Melissa Lestrange, Lethias Greenway, Sapphire Northshire, both of you are here because someone brought you to this place and we healed you, am I right?"
No reaction, except for a single nod of Sapphire.
Nathan : "Fair enough. Then, we really need to talk about what's going."
Frederica : "Nathan-san, what do you exactly mean?"
Nathan : "What is the reason of this Royal Election? Why is the Witch Cult after Jens and Emilia? I… Everything is so complicated."
Emilia : "You don't have to be part of my camp. You can leave whenever you want, however I'll do my best to make this Kingdom a place where everyone can be at ease."
She responded.
Nathan : "Then, if I may ask. Why do you want to become the Queen of Lugnica, Emilia?"
Emilia stopped walking, and so did everyone else.
Emilia : "I need the blood of Volcanica."
Nathan : "Hah?!"
Jens : "What?"
Yang : "Are you serious? For what reason?"
Jens : "The Blood of the Dragon? Why?"
Emilia : "Something very bad happened to my hometown, and I need to restore it to its original state. It's… selfish, but I have the necessary qualities to become one, so.."
Weiss : "Is it Elior Forest?"
Emilia : "Yes."
A very, very awkward situation occurred, nobody knew what to say now.
Jens walked towards Emilia and grabbed her hand.
Jens : "Don't look so sad, it ruins your cute face. Let's continue, okay?"
Emilia : "A-Ah… Alright!"
Nathan : "Nonono, let's not continue. I want to know if I'm doing the right thing. The attack on Nastra was horrible. But… am I even helping the right side?"
Emilia : "What are you talking about? If you don't trust me, you can leave! There's no need to stay!"
Nathan : "No… I wasn't talking about you, but about…"
Yang : "Are you saying that… Jens is a traitor?"
Suddenly, Jens felt a cold shiver going through his spine. He saved Nathan back in the cafe when Elsa Granhiert attacked, yet, he still doesn't trust him? What is this all about, why, how, all those questions started racing through Jens' head.
Nathan : "Think about it realistically, after Jens appeared in the capital. All those events, like the attack on the mansion, Masquerade made his first appearance again, Regulus attacked the capital. All because of you."
Lethias : "That's kinda rude to say, don't you think so?"
Nathan : "Like I said, think about it realistically."
What is Jens supposed to say? His mind doesn't know what to say exactly, and forms a fist out of his hand.
Jens : "I understand that you're scared of what's coming. But that doesn't mean you've to blame me for it. I'm a victim. I'm the one that suffered through torture, amnesia's, and other stuff probably—"
Nathan : "Oh please, don't act like a victim. Be fucking serious, am I the only one that smells that Witch Smell around Jens?"
He suddenly asked everyone a very, very specific question.
Otto : "I… I don't smell anything."
Frederica : "I do. It's Witch Miasma. I scent that only Sin Archbishops and Witches have."
Jens : "W-What…. Beatrice said the same thing."
Emilia : "A-Are you…"
Jens : "I have no connection with the Sin Archbishops and the Witches of Sin!"
Well, that was partly true. Yes, Jens doesn't have any kind of relationship with the Witch Cult from what he can recall. But the Witches? Apparently, Echidna knows him. The Witch of Envy, Satella is absolutely in love with him.
But was this lie necessary, is what Jens thinks. His priority right now is to keep his friends undivided. Of course, lies and doubt are the two factors that divide each other from hope, but some lies are necessary to make, is what Jens believes.
Nathan : "Explain the scent. Are you an… Authority user?"
Jens : "I am not. I haven't killed any Sin Archbishop successfully yet, except Regulus, who's still alive due his own Authority."
Nathan : "Bullshit."
Jens : "Where does this anger originate from? Why all this all of a sudden?!"
Nathan : "Because I'm fucking scared Jens. I'm between people I barely know, and the reason why I'm still alive is taken away from me!"
Suddenly, Jens realizes what is going on. Felt is in the hands of Reinhard van Astrea. Melissa Lestrange is cursed by the Witch Cult. Yes, Jens finally understand what's wrong.
Jens walks towards Nathan and gives him a hug. Nathan is confused for a good second, but then collapses, and accepts the hug.
Jens : "We're afraid of the things that we do not understand. I get you completely. I'll talk to Reinhard as soon as possible, and I'll ask Felix Argyle or Roswaal to take a look at Melissa's curse. But I'm serious. I am not a traitor. I would do whatever it takes to save you all."
Jens stops embracing Nathan and looks at him.
Jens : "It's important not to lose sight of what drives us. Love, Justice, Reverence. But the moment we're divided because of severed trust, we'll become unable to continue."
Nathan : "A-Ah… I see. I-I'm sorry. I'm just so… fucking lonely."
Jens : "Trust me. Please."
Nathan : "I will. Haha, how silly of me."
Sapphire : "How cute."
Lethias : "Shut up Sapphire, never have you ever said something at the right time, have you?"
Sapphire : "Tsk…"
The group continues their journey towards the Sanctuary. Suddenly, someone approached them from the other direction of the road.
Frederica : "A-Ah… Ram?"
Ram : "You're finally here. Follow me, you guys are near the Sanctuary."
Ram starts running, and the group follows her.
Jens : "D-Did something happen?"
Jens starts a conversation, while running and following Ram.
Ram : "Yes, a tragedy."
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In a forest, in the midst of at least sixty corpses, Furuta Washuu stands. His pants are covered in blood, along with his shoes. There's a small drip of blood on his face.
He looks at the person in front of him. Furuta knows who this is, and that's why he's so amused.
His appearance is quite normal, nothing too exciting, but the clothes he wears are unique. He looks like a superhero from a comic or from a movie. He has wavy brown hair and a square jaw. He is tall, with a lean, muscular physique. Surprisingly enough, Furuta finds this guy quite attractive.
He wears a skintight blue costume with white lightning/flame designs. His costume includes boots and gloves. His mask is blue and silver, and leaves his mouth, chin, hair and some of his forehead uncovered.
Furuta : "Woah! The most elite members of V just got demolished by Legend! Gross!"
Legend : "Washuu King…"
The name to Legend was unknown, but he knew with who he was dealing. It was a Washuu for sure, but name?
Furuta : "What made you guys awaken? I thought Vincent-san abandoned you trash."
Legend : "Big mouth. It seems our master, Jens has summoned us."
Furuta : "Disgusting! Haaaaa!? What do you mean summoned?"
Legend : "The Seal of our Palace was removed after the attack on Nastra."
Furuta : "I see~!"
The pieces started to fit into the picture for Furuta, he clearly knew what was going on. However, Legend, not so much.
Furuta : "It appears that after he regained his power of summoning the Leo Legacy, the seal disappeared. This can be quite troublesome. I never expected to have to deal with The Wardens. Tell me, how is Glory Girl doing?"
Legend : "I'm not permitted to answer your question Washuu. I'll kill you and bring your corpse to Jens."
Furuta : "Obnoxious!"
Furuta clapped his hands.
Furuta : "I think this is not going too well. What about us talking on how we fix this conflict? You barely know me, Nimura Furuta Washuu, and you're already assuming I'm the big villain! I mean, don't get me wrong, I fucking am the villain, but don't you think that's rude? Don't you understand how that makes me feel? You broke my feelings, in fact! Shattered them, they scattered in pieces, you filled my heart with insecurities, and now I'm insecure. I'm so sadsadsadsadsadsadsad! What about us solving this… very peacefully? How about, yes! You turn around, I'll kick your ass back to Eldia, and you never search for me again? You see, I hate violence. I rather solve things peacefully. Violence is wrong! I'm not good at fighting at all, and clearly, you are, I mean, you killed the most elite members of my organization, V! Which is also, considered to be rude, these guys have families, friends, and jobs! You just killed them. You killed them. You broke their hearts and killed them. Do you think that was a right move to make? You're trash. You're obnoxious. Perhaps you're a clown. HAHA! Got the reference? Clown? No?!"
The man sighed.
Legend : "You're just as crazy as your father, Furuta."
Furuta looks down, and all of a sudden, Legend hears a powerful sound. Furuta punched a tree with his fist, and send the tree flying.
The lips of Furuta started to move extremely fast and he started mumbling stuff to himself, quite loud.
Furuta : "Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die."
Legend : "Yes, your sanity is beyond redemption. I'll incinerate you right here, and message the other Wardens to pick up Jens from the Demon Kingd—"
In the middle of his sentence, Legend aims the palm of his hand towards Furuta until he gets interrupted in the middle of his talk.
Furuta : "FERME TA GEULE!"
(French : "Shut your mouth!")
The colors of Furuta's eye changed. White part became black, and his red iris remained red. The Garden of Eden abilities awoken.
Legend : "So… You really are an Eden. The stories were true."
Furuta : "I'LL DEVOUR BOTH YOU AND ALL THE WARDENS. ALL OF YOU WILL BOW BEFORE THE GOD OF DEATH, FURUTA!"
Legend : "Don't get me wrong, I admire your ambition of thinking being able to defeat me, but even a bug like you can't match my power level."
Furuta : "AAH! SO TROUBLESOME, PLEASE, LET'S SOLVE THIS PEACEFULLY!"
The Garden of Eden man, Furuta, summoned a long Katana which fell onto the ground. Furuta put his hands on his ears and started pulling them, hard enough to be actually torn off the body.
Furuta is insane.
Legend collected enough Mana out of the atmosphere and his hands started to shine blue Aura.
Legend : "My name is Legend, the Leader of The Wardens. I'll destroy you, do not move and I'll make your death painless."
Furuta : "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HERE I COME!"
Legend : "Die fiend! Alo Sempra!"
Legend just activated one of the strongest Yang Spells existing, and released it on Furuta. Furuta dashed towards Legend and grabbed the Katana from the ground.
Looking at the strength of these two individuals, they came very close to Reinhard van Astrea. This battle can be very destructive.
Seeing this battle can be considered a phenomenon.
Furuta : "BEAUTY AND THE BEAST HAAAAAA!"
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Ram : "It's here. This is the building where everyone should note themselves to Roswaal-sama. Things are getting very ugly."
They arrived at the Sanctuary. It was an extremely poor village. There were some noticeable things.
First of all, there was one road which led into the Forest of Never Returning, but apparently, this road would lead you towards the Sanctuary Grounds, which was quite new to everyone.
Second, there was an another Mansion, owned by the Roswaal Mathers family in this village, but this one was quite smaller.
Third, there were barely people walking, and the people that were outside, were Demi-Humans. Cat Humans. Leopard Humans. Wolf Humans. Beast Humans. Dragon Humans. Chameleon Humans. Lizard Humans. Tiger Humans. Jens could keep going with how many kind he saw.
Jens opened the door, and saw an injured Roswaal L Mathers sitting on a bed. Ram walked towards Roswaal and stood beside him.
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Roswaal : "Go-Go~oood morning my friends, yes?"
Emilia : "Roswaal-sama, what happened to you?"
Roswaal : "I-I tried entering the Sanctuary Grounds myself, but got defeated by the Washuu King, you see, yes?"
Jens : "Masquerade, The Crazed Prince, he's here?"
Roswaal : "Y~Yeeees."
Jens : "Did he fuck you up this bad?"
Ram took a step forward. Out of anger, no, irritation, she walked towards Jens and grabbed his shirt.
Ram : "Listen up idiotic fool, show a bit of sympathy for Roswaal-sama, understood?"
Jens also suddenly realises how nasty this conversation will be when Roswaal is actually hurt.
Ram : "Have you satisfied yourself with this view of wounded Roswaal-sama? In pain, in agony, on the verge of tears…. Roswaal-sama's countenance is drained."
Jens : "Calm down Ram, I barely said anything—"
Roswaal : "Uuuughh…. It huuuuuuurts, I'm in anguiiish. Your words pierce scars into my thoughtful, considerate heaaaaaaart."
Jens : "W-What does that mean?"
Jens furrows his brows in irritation at Roswaal's stupid little banter play. Emilia clears her throat to get the mood back on topic.
Emilia : "Anyway. The Barrier, how are we supposed to return it to it's original state?"
Roswaal : "Ahhh~ yes! Little girl, Liamilia, is Puck with you, no?"
Emilia : "Puck, are you awake?"
The Half Elf shakes with her Crystal, and the cat, Puck, appears on her shoulder.
Puck : "Gooodmoo~rning!"
Puck yawned.
Roswaal : "Yes. This is great. It seems like that only a few individuals are able to enter the Sanctuary Grounds. With one of them being Half Bloods and Kings. Soooo~ Jens and Masquerade are able to enter those grounds for sure, along with Emilia~"
Ram sighed.
Otto : "Roswaal-sama, what are those people supposed to do within the Sanctuary?"
Roswaal : "Gooo~d question Otto-san, the examiner within the Sanctuary will take you through three trials, those who finish the trials restate the barrier into it's original shape, it's seems, yes!"
Emilia : "I see. Puck, you'll stay here with Jens. I'll be the one taking the Trials."
Roswaal : "It seems that's not a possible possibility, misses Lia."
Emilia : "Huh?"
Suddenly, confusion hit everyone in the room.
Roswaal : "You see, your contract with Puck avoids entering mental and physical phenomenons, like the Trials of The Witches. Before you joined the Royal Election, Puck explained me every single detail of your contraaaaaaaaaact."
Emilia : "So that means…"
Jens : "I'll be taking the trials, then."
Nathan : "I see, so that's the case."
An idea, or rather a theory, possibility, whatever, went through Nathan Harmonia's mind. It was rather random, but it somehow made sense.
Jens : "What is it Nathan? You got something?"
Nathan : "It seems that Masquerade doesn't want the Barrier to reappear for some reason."
Jens : "What? But the Witches would destroy the World? Why would he?"
Nathan : "That's correct, right Roswaal?"
Ram : "You idiotic fool! What do you mean with that?"
Nathan : "You sure are pissed today, Ram. Tell me if I'm wrong, which I'm not. What are you trying to do?"
Frederica : "Nathan-san?! Are you questioning our lord?"
Nathan : "It appears so, Roswaal… What the fuck are you scheming?"
Suddenly, a wicked smile appears on Roswaal's face. He removes the bandage from both of his hands and creates a dark portal.
He creates a blast of wind and pushes everyone back.
Roswaal : "I'm veeeeeeeeery~ sorry, this strangles my poor, frozen heart. But it seems a single pawn can play the betrayer in this game, yes? No?!"
Nathan : "W-What do you mean?!"
Roswaal : "It means that V will deal with everyone else here. Jens, good luck at the Trials."
The Clown disappears from the house, and Ram is left clueless of what just happened.
Emilia : "Ram! What is going on? What was he talking about?"
Ram : "I… I don't understand. Roswaal told me he got destroyed by Masquerade… This makes no sense."
Jens : "That Fucking Clown!"
Emilia : "No stress, please. Everyone, go calm down, outside, somewhere. Do something to relax."
Melissa : "I'm sorry, but it seems there's no such thing as relief, Emilia. The Organization V is clan which is completely loyal to the Gusteko family, what the hell are they doing here? Does Roswaal have ties with The Prince?"
Ram : "It appears that's the case…"
Emilia : "That means the Sanctuary… is going to get…"
Jens : "Destroyed."
Suddenly, the negative thought, and the worst outcome went through Jens' mind. Yes, Roswaal was planning to destroy the Sanctuary Barrier.
Jens : "Ram, tell me. What is Roswaal trying to achieve."
Ram : "Alright then… I promised, with all my loyalty to keep my mouth shut. But it appears Roswaal-sama betrayed us."
She took a breath.
It took a few seconds to get actual words out of Ram's mouth. She was still troubled by the fact that Roswaal wasn't who she thought she was. Something very, very weird was going on right now.
Ram : "He's trying to ressurrect the Witch of Greed, Echidna."
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Furuta : "Bazooka!"
Furuta, with not even a single scratch on his body, walked towards Legend, who was inside of a mountain, with every bone in his body broken. His arms, legs, entire body, were not in a state of being able to move.
Legend's skin tight costume was destroyed, and was completely covered in his own blood.
Furuta : "Truly amazing. I think I can be quite proud of myself, can't I?"
How twisted, Furuta talked to himself, acting as if Legend couldn't hear him, but he could. The Leader of The Wardens, just got completely destroyed by Nimura Furuta Washuu.
Legend : "F…F…F…"
Furuta : "HAHA! Are you trying to talk? Talk? Communicate? Is this how you start a conversation? Arthur, you're pathetic. You can't beat me, how are you supposed to protect the earth against the Endbringers?! BAHAHAHAHA!"
Legend : "Fuck… You."
Furuta : "Rude."
Furuta shrugged.
Furuta : "You'll forget about this event. You'll forget my name. You don't remember why you were here. You forget your relationship with Washuu. I'll send you Jens now, good luck sweetheart."
He put his palm on Legend's forehead, and just like that, his memories were gone. He erased his memories as easily as he did with Jens.
Furuta : "Be gone! Butterfly!"
And just like that, Legend disappeared.
Furuta : "Why is my Agenda always this busy? I really need a day off, I suppose!"
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After hearing what Ram said, everyone left the house, except Jens, Nathan, Otto, Yang and Weiss.
Jens : "Fuck. Shit is getting worse and worse with each day. So fucking frustrating."
Otto : "Calm down mate, please. Roswaal is gone for the being, even though I have no fucking idea where he is. Also, according to Ram's clairvoyance, V hasn't made their move yet. Nobody is approaching this village."
Jens : "I see. I see."
Suddenly, the door behind them opens, it was Frederica Baumann wearing her maid outfit.
Frederica : "Jens-sama… The Blue Haired girl, do you want to see her?"
Jens : "Yes. If possible. You four, please stay here. I'll return."
Frederica led the way towards Rem, so Jens followed.
It was in the same house where Roswaal was lying, just one floor higher. They entered a white room, where Rem was lying on a bed. The window was open, and the curtains were moving with the wind.
Jens : "Hey… Rem, how are you doing?"
No response, of course. He was talking to a girl, who lost herself. Nobody remembered her except himself.
Jens : "I see…"
Frederica : "Was she… a good friend of yours, Jens?"
Jens : "Sadly enough, no. I weren't that good friends with her, but I cannot allow the Witch Cult to get away with this. This is horrible."
Frederica : "I understand. It seems you've a guest, Jens."
He turns around, and someone he doesn't recognize enters the room. She has dark blonde hair, freckles on the bridge of her nose, and clear, sky blue eyes. She's around seventeen, maybe eighteen.
??? : "Hey."
Jens : "Hey… Can I… Help you?"
??? : "Nope! But I can help you."
Jens : "Frederica… Could you leave us for a second?"
Frederica : "Of course, Jens-sama!"
The Leopard woman turns around, and leaves the white room. The girl, Rem and Jens are the only ones left in the room now.
She's quite attractive, now that he looks more precisely at her.
Lisa : "My name is Lisa Wilbourn, nice to meet you."
She offers Jens a hand, to start an acquaintanceship.
Jens shakes her hand, but returns to the topic.
Jens : "Jens, but I think you knew that already, didn't you?"
Lisa : "Yup. Yup. I did. You see, I grew up here. I lived here for seventeen years, but only after I heard the big news of a new "King" appear in the grounds, I knew what was going on."
Jens : "Wait… What are you trying to say?"
Lisa : "It seems Roswaal-sama is planning something giant. This villge was formerly a place for humans to stay. Humans that were alliances with the Lugnicians or the families related to the Roswaal family. After you appeared, he started gathering Demi-Humans, you know why?"
Jens shook his head.
Lisa : "He's collecting as many Demi-Humans as possible to destroy the Barrier in general."
Jens : "Wait what? Why are you telling me all this?"
Lisa : "Oh please, don't tell me there is nobody else in this world you care about? I don't want this World to return to it's natural state, chaos."
This woman gave off a very, very intellectual aura. Even though she already named herself, she still felt like a stranger to Jens, but something reminded her of someone he used to know.
Lisa : "Is this your friend? It seems she's under the Gluttony effect."
Jens : "You know of the Authority of Gluttony?"
She made a little laugh.
Lisa : "Oh please, I think you're misunderstanding who I am. I'm Lisa Wilbourn, an Ex-Warden."
Jens : "I… don't know what that means."
Lisa : "Wait what?! You're Jens, right? The Lost King Jens? What the hell happened to you? I know you lost your memories, but now… you don't even the Wardens? The Organization YOU created?"
He started thinking, but the name 'Wardens' didn't say anything to him. It felt like something he has never heard off, yet familiar.
Lisa sighed.
Lisa : "The Wardens is an organization that operates whenever you're in danger. After you awoken the Legacy of Leo, we got released. However, I quit being a Warden, after I noticed how much fucked up shit was going on, but I'm here to help you personally!"
Jens : "A-Ah?!"
Still confused, Jens started questioning.
Jens : "I created them? For what reason?"
Lisa : "To protect the world from the Witches and The Endbringers."
Jens : "Oh… now that the Witches are about to return, the Wardens are reappearing, am I right?"
Lisa : "Yup!"
Jens : "I see. Tell me, what kind of power do you have?"
Lisa : "Ask me whatever you want, friend?"
Whatever he wants? His thoughts start to race, should he ask something hard? Something easy? Maybe it's better to start with a normal question.
Wait, what has that to do with her power? Does she have some kind of foresight? Eternal knowledge?
Decided. As he looked at Rem, he noticed the shadow changing a little bit, because of the candles, and was curious about the time.
Jens : "What–"
Lisa : "It's exactly twelve."
He gulps. What the actual hell? Did she just predicted what he was gonna ask?
Lisa : "Let me tell you this, I'm very… Very good at guessing. Haha!"
Suddenly she walks out of the room. Like, in a dash.
Jens starts thinking, what the hell is wrong with this girl?
"Good at Guessing"
This could mean a lot of things. Intuition? Prediction? Foresight?
He decided to turn back towards Rem and looked at her with Sorrow and Melancholy embracing him. He wants to cry, because he was unable to save her. He didn't know her that well, but the fact that she fought at his side, and is gone because of him, makes him extremely sad.
Lisa : "Turn around!"
Suddenly, he hears the girl again.
Suddenly, she was wearing different clothes. She had a mask on her face and was reading a book. She sat on a chair where visitors come.
Lisa : "Now tell me, where are we going next, my dear Jens?"